by Mac Flynn
"I did?" I wondered. One warning look from Adam told me I'd misspoke. "Oh, right, yeah, all the old paths. We'll just follow them and be back in no time."
My dad, too, looked worried as he rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "I don't know. There's still that wolf running around."
"Coyote," my mom argued.
"Well, whatever it is it's running around and eating livestock, and I don't think something big enough to attack cattle is going to be coward enough to not attack a pair of reckless humans," he pointed out.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. We'll only be gone for an hour, at most," Adam assured them.
My dad dropped his hand and sighed. "All right, but if only one of you can make it back it better be Chris."
"Dad!" I yelled.
"What? If this is the man you want to marry then he'd better be willing to be wolf-"
"-coyote," my mom interrupted.
"-better be willing to be animal chow to save you," he finished.
Adam smiled and bowed his head. "I promise I will gladly sacrifice myself to save Chris, if the need arises."
I pushed against Adam's back and shoved him towards the stairs. "Yeah, if the need arises, but we're only going for a nature hike and we'll be back in no time. You just have your cocoa ready for us, Mom, and if we're lost we'll find our way home with that smell."
My mom smiled. "I'll be sure to have the mugs and marshmallows ready for you."
"Sounds great. Anyway, let's get this stuff unpacked first." I practically dragged Adam up the stairs and down to the far end of the hall where I spun him around to face me. "Are you trying to get us killed going out in the middle of the night?" I hissed.
"Do you not know the paths still?" he wondered.
"Yeah, but not when they're under a few inches of snow," I shot back.
"Then we will rely on my nose to follow any scents we might find," he suggested.
I sighed and opened my door. "All right, but if we do run into a vicious, man-eating wolf, coyote, or rabbit, I expect you to take one for the team."
He chuckled. "I will gladly accept any of those challenges."
I stepped into my room and turned to Adam. "Good, now let's unpack and get this crazy walk over with so we can get back. My mom puts in a triple helping of cocoa powder in her cocoa and the marshmallows are homemade."
In a few minutes we were unpacked and downstairs. My parents met us at the door with our coats and a bag of winter clothing supplies. "I thought you might need some more clothes. It's below freezing outside," Mom commented. She pulled out four pairs of gloves from the bag, all varying in sizes and colors. "If these won't work I have another bag."
I pulled out a pair of gloves from my coat pocket. "Already prepared, Mom."
"But no scarf? You'll catch your death of cold without one," she scolded. Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, she stuffed the gloves back into the bag and pulled out the same number of scarves.
"Come on, Mom, I'll be fine," I insisted.
She ignored me and wrapped one tightly around my neck. "See? Don't you feel warmer?"
"Mom!" I choked out as I unwrapped the last, air-cutting loop.
Mom stepped back and smiled at me. "Now you two keep your word and be back in an hour, or the cocoa will get cold."
"We will," I promised.
Dad turned to Adam, and his eyes held a serious look in them and his lips were pursed together. "And you remember what I said about keeping care of her."
Adam bowed his head. "I'll be sure to sacrifice myself."
"Good, then you two get off and come back soon. Oh, and don't wreck the paths I made around the barn or I'll make you shovel them yourselves tomorrow," he warned us.
"We will," I replied as I pushed Adam out the door and into the clear night air.
The night was still and crisp with frost. The only light came from the house and a bright flood light over the barn doors. My parents followed us onto the covered porch. "Oh, and you'll need these," my dad added. He tossed us a pair of thick, heavy, powerful flashlights.
"Be careful!" my mom called to us as we stepped onto the snow-covered driveway.
"We will, and don't worry!" I called back as we strode past the barn and away from the bright cheerful, warm house.
Chapter 5
If only I could have stopped myself from worrying. "So if we do meet another werewolf what are you going to do to them?" I asked Adam as we trudged our way to the far side of the barn. My dad had shoveled completely around it in some mad attempt to prove his manliness.
"I will attempt to speak with them," Adam told me.
"And if that doesn't work?"
"Then violence will be the only solution."
"So give him the Ashton treatment?"
"Precisely."
I cringed. "I just hope it isn't one of my neighbors. Mom would never forgive me for letting my boyfriend kill one of her gardening buddies," I muttered.
"Do you know of any known wolf's bane locations, or anyone who would grow them?" he wondered.
I snorted. "Do you really think I have that much experience with that stuff after I almost poisoned both of us with it in your cabin?"
"Point taken."
We reached the opposite side of the broad barn. In front of us was the snow-covered hay field, and beyond that lay the start of the forests that surrounded the little valley. The snow lay about four inches deep and there was no path but those tracks made by winter birds, rabbits, and the occasional coyote.
Adam stood beside me on the narrow, shoveled path. I grinned up at him and gestured to the wide expanse of field. "Ladies first," I invited him.
He smiled in his turn and forded into the fluffy white stuff. The snow was more powder than ice and it was almost enjoyable but for the cold night air and the inability to see in the dark. I clicked on my flashlight as we trudged away from the friendly lights of home. Adam flipped his on, but pointed it backwards for my benefit.
"How good is your eyesight in the dark again?" I asked him.
"Quite good," he replied.
"So why turn on the flashlight?"
"Your parents may be watching, and they would expect two lights," he pointed out.
"Oh, right." I glanced over my shoulder at the retreating farmhouse. A few figures stood in the front living room window. I tripped on a rock in the field and stumbled forward, but didn't fall. "Cocoa, just think cocoa," I muttered to myself.
"This will be over quickly if we don't-" Adam froze and his whole body stiffened.
I stumbled into his back and sighed as I leaned into his coat. "Let me guess, you spoke too soon?"
"I fear so. There is certainly a scent of something ahead, though we haven't come upon the trail," he informed me.
"Well, lead on to the next trouble waiting for us," I commanded him. Adam smelled the scent twenty yards from the forest, and his nose led him swiftly to the edge of the trees. The snow was shallower than in the field, but the brush was thick and the trees blocked out the clear night sky. I recognized a path popular with my family. "Please tell me we get to follow the trail," I pleaded.
"Yes, it does follow the path," he told me. We walked thirty yards in silence and the trail bent southeast. "Where does this path lead?" he asked me.
"To town just behind some of the houses, but you have to get through a few farms to get that far" I told him.
"Is it used often by anyone outside of your family?"
"Not that I know of, but hunters could use it, and maybe some of Old Greg's family," I guessed.
"And who owns the land?"
"Old Greg owns this plot, but the rest of it is a patchwork of small logging companies, peoples' personal woodlots, and the occasional crazy-guy squatter," I told him.
"So it is difficult to pinpoint who may have been on the trail?"
"Without your nose confirming somebody's scent I'd say it's impossible," I agreed.
"I see."
We walked further in silence, but my curiosity about something
was killing me. "So, um, how are you liking my parents so far? I mean, I know you said they're amusing, but what do you think of them?" I wondered.
"They are a pair of very nice people who have a close attachment to each other, and their daughter," he replied.
"So, say if we decided to maybe-possibly get married, you wouldn't mind them being your parents-in-law?" I persisted.
He chuckled. "I would not mind in the least. I see your parents as less of an obstacle to overcome than my-well, my affliction."
"And that's only because you won't change me," I reminded him. "I'd be a lot more useful right now if I could smell what you're smelling, and actually see where we're going."
"Perhaps, but I am not prepared to take that step," he argued.
I frowned at his back. "You're going to have to give in some time, Adam. Resistance is futile."
He chuckled. "We will see. First we must solve the mystery that exists in your hometown."
"Then lead on, Sherlock," I teased.
He led us a dozen feet further down the trail when a scent caught the attention of my nose and wrinkled it. "Um, I don't know what you're following, but I smell skunk."
"Not to worry. The scent is several hours old. What I am concerned about is the scent atop that one. It smells like-"
There came a rustling noise in the brush ahead of us. I dove behind Adam and he hunkered down, ready to jump at whatever was hidden. We waited with baited breath, and soon a dark shadow emerged from brush. It waddled like a short penguin and had a fluffy tail. I flashed my light on the creature and felt the color drain from my face.
"Skunk!" I yelped.
Apparently it didn't like my announcing its arrival because the skunk turned tail and escaped back from where it came, but not before it let off a projectile of stench. I was protected behind Adam, but he wasn't so fortunate. The path was narrow, my hands gripped his back, and the brush was three feet tall. He had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and that skunk had both great aim and a great shot because the stinky muck flew ten feet and hit Adam square in the chest.
I clapped my hand over my mouth and stumbled away from him. "Good god!" I yelped.
Adam slowly turned to me and his face was blanched white. He moved in a stiff fashion and his teeth grated together. "I do not believe he has anything to do with those animals and their sulfuric scent," he growled.
I had a hard time deciding whether to laugh or run away from him, and decided on neither. Adam had saved my clothes from a fate worse than death, and I couldn't leave him out here to fend for himself. I inched over to him and took his hand. It reeked of skunk. "Come on, let's get you home. My mom knows what to do with skunk smell since this won't be the first time she's had to get it off someone."
"You have experienced such a fate?" he wondered.
I snorted. "No, our old dog got into it with a skunk. He came out about as well as you did."
He managed a strained smile. "The comparison is apt."
I tugged on his hand and guided him back over our trail. "Yeah, and you smell about as bad as he did, too, but let's go. It's going to be a long walk back."
It was a long trudge back with Adam smelling like he'd made love to a garbage dump. When we hit the porch I heard voices inside the house. "My god, Annie, did you eat beans today?" I heard my dad ask my mom.
"Why ever would you think it was me?" my mom countered.
"Because yours are always silent and deadly," Dad quipped.
I opened the door and dragged Adam in. "We're home!" I called out.
My parents came from the living room with bright smiles on their faces. "You're back so-" My mom's greeting was interrupted by a heavy whiff of Adam. Her face fell and she looked between us. "Oh dear. Problems?"
"Yeah, they ate your beans," Dad spoke up.
"We ran into a skunk and Adam protected me," I told them.
My mom smiled and took Adam's hand. She pulled him toward the stairs in the direction of the bathroom. "Well, we'll see what we can do for him. Ralph, could you grab all the tomato quarts you can find in the cupboard? You, too, Chrissy," she ordered us.
I tugged on his other hand so he stayed beside me. "I think I'll just help Adam. You can go get the tomato and pass it through the door," I suggested.
My mom released her hold on him. "Well, if you insist, but don't forget to give me his clothes. Oh, and did you need me to clean your underwear, too?" she wondered.
I choked on my spittle. "Mom, he's not your son!" I reminded her.
"Well, he might be in the future," she countered.
My cheeks blushed and I noticed the corner of Adam's lips twitch upward. "Mom!" I hissed at her.
She waved off my concerns. "It's fine, honey, I know what I'm doing."
"On second thought, I will clean all my clothes, Mrs. Monet. They aren't very pleasant to smell," Adam told her.
"Please, call me Annie, and I'm sure I can manage to clean dirty underwear. I've been married to Chris' father for several years," she argued.
"Annie!" Dad choked out.
My mom sighed and took hold of my father's shoulders. She turned him towards the kitchen. "My goodness, but was fusses you are! Very well, Adam will clean his own clothes, but whatever we do let's do it quickly before the scent soaks into the furniture."
Chapter 6
After much scrubbing Adam was cleansed of his skunkness, but there was no saving his clothes. They were tossed in the outside garbage. His salvation was thanks to the power of my mom's canned tomatoes. When the ordeal was done the hour was past nine and it was decided to hit the hay early.
I slept like a log as I always did on my mattress that was worn to perfectly fit my body. The next morning a hard rap on my door awoke me from my slumber.
"What?" I called from beneath the covers.
"Your mother wishes me to tell you breakfast is nearly ready," Adam called through the door.
I sighed, flung aside the bed sheets, and walked over to open my door for him. "She really doesn't mind if you call her Annie. When she said everybody does it, she wasn't kidding. Even the bartender calls her Annie, and she doesn't even go to the bar," I told him.
Adam smiled. "I will try to call your mother by her name."
I turned away to my dresser and tossed some clothes over my shoulder and onto the bed. "So what mortal danger is on the agenda today?"
"I thought perhaps you might show me the town," he suggested.
I looked to him with a raised eyebrow. "Just show you the town?" I wondered.
He shrugged. "It is where you grew up," he pointed out.
"Uh-huh, but I can't imagine you just doing anything when we've got a mystery afoot, Holmes," I quipped.
"We may stumble on important information or scents, but that won't be our primary intention in going to town," he admitted.
I snorted and proceeded to undress myself. Adam quickly shut the door behind himself and his eyes zeroed in on me. "So what was that scent you smelled last night, anyway?"
Adam's eyes, and attention were on my breasts as I clothed myself. "You are most evil for asking me questions at this difficult moment," he scolded me.
A mischievous grin slipped onto my lips. "Am I making things hard for you?"
His golden eyes told me how much he wanted me almost as well as the growl in his voice. "Very."
I slipped on the last bits of my clothing and walked up to him to slide my hands against his chest. "Well, the faster we get this done the sooner-"
Before I knew it Adam had wrapped his arms around me and taken me in a passionate kiss. Heat pooled between my legs. Our hands groped one another in a blind, lustful need. I longed to be like this forever. Unfortunately, forever lasted about ten seconds when the necessity to breathe and a rap on the door interrupted our lover's kiss.
"Adam, Chrissy, you in there?" came my dad's voice.
I sighed and reluctantly pulled myself from Adam's grasp. "Yeah, just coming down," I called back.
"All right, breakfast is ready,
" he told us. In a moment the sound of his footsteps retreated down the hall.
"This was the kind of privacy I had as a teenager, too," I told Adam.
He grinned. "You mean when you invited Stinky Peterson over?" he teased.
I rolled my eyes and pushed past him. "Let's just go see what's for breakfast."
The answer to my suggestion was everything, or just about everything. My mom had made every pan known to man, and waffles on the side. All styles of eggs lay on plates, and there was homemade syrup, jams, and jellies to smother the breaded stuff under until it drowned. My dad sat at the head sipping some coffee and staring at the food with a slight frown on his face.
"Did you really have to make so much, Annie?" he called to her as she worked in the kitchen.
She swept into the room with a large plate of sliced ham in her hands. "Well, I wasn't sure how much to cook, and it's better to cook too much than not enough."
"This is enough to feed us the rest of the week," he quipped.
Mom set the plate on the table and scowled at him. "Nonsense, Ralph, now everybody dig in. The plates of bacon won't fit anywhere until we make room." Without his asking my mom slipped a stack of pancakes onto Adam's plate. "You need a little food on your bones, Adam. You're far too skinny."
I rolled my eyes. "Mom, you're doing it again," I scolded her.
"Doing what, honey?" she replied.
"He's not a kid, Mom, he knows how much he-"
"Would you like a waffle, Adam?" she asked him.
"I'd love one," Adam agreed.
"Adam, you're not helping!" I growled.
He shrugged as my mom slid a waffle onto his plate of stacked pancakes. "They're very good," he argued.
"Too good," Dad commented as he set down his coffee mug. He patted his widening waistline. "I was a skinny man when I met Anna, and now look at me. Wasting away fat and miserable."
"Would you like a slice of berry pie, dear?" Mom spoke up.
"Yes, please," he replied.
I snorted. "Yeah, real miserable, Dad."
We four did justice to the meal, or tried to. The plates were half eaten mostly thanks to Adam's prodigious werewolf appetite. It was a good thing he was worth a fortune because his yearly grocery bill was a kingly sum. After an hour of gluttonous activity I leaned back and patted my swollen stomach.